Current Call for Applications

Deadlines and Dates

• Applications may be handed in anytime as long as funds are available. Due to the limited budget, we recommend that you apply as soon as possible.
• To facilitate the processing the applications will be bundled roughly at the end of every month. The next deadline is Tuesday, January 7, 2025.
• Selection decisions will be made by members of the ▶ KHYS Steering Committee in a circulation procedure. Please note that this process will take some time.

Application Requirements

• The KIT applicant and the aspirant have to jointly apply for the Aspirant Grant (Doc). The KIT applicant has to conclusively state why he or she wants to invite this particular aspirant to KIT. The aspirant in return has to point out why he or she wants to come to KIT.
• The aspirant should be in an advanced stage of his or her Master’s course.
• Doctoral researchers or PhD students are not eligible to apply for the Aspirant Grant (Doc).
• The stay at KIT should enable the aspirant to gain an impression of the research environment in which he or she may be doing a doctorate in the future.
• A KIT doctoral researcher serves as the aspirant’s “buddy” and assists him or her regarding administrative issues or questions concerning the facilities at KIT or housing and free-time activities.
• The applicant has to be eligible to function as a supervisor for doctoral projects. (KIT Associate Fellows and heads of certified KIT junior research groups should hand in a letter of support from the professor who would function as the primary supervisor.)
• In principle, the aspirant will have to be able to fulfil the requirements for acceptance as a doctoral researcher by the respective KIT Department once his or her Master’s course is completed.
• Funding for the same purpose is not admissible.

Application Documents

• ▶ Application form signed by the KIT applicant, the KIT “buddy”, and the aspirant.
• If the applicant is a KIT Associate Fellow or a head of a certified KIT junior research group: a letter of support from the KIT professor who would function as the primary supervisor of the future doctoral project
• Documents provided by the aspirant:
  • CV including date of birth; course of studies (discipline, duration, place, grade); stays abroad; awards etc.
  • Letter of recommendation by a former professor/professor of the home institution
  • Scans of all of the following official documents:
    • Bachelor’s degree certificate as well as performance record/Transcript of Records in original language
    • Bachelor’s degree certificate as well as performance record/Transcript of Records in English or German (if possible translations provided by your home university)
    • Master’s degree certificate (if applicable) as well as (current) performance record/Transcript of Records in original language
    • Master’s degree certificate (if applicable) as well as (current) performance record/Transcript of Records in English or German (if possible translations provided by your home university)
    • Document stating the grading system of the university (explaining the highest and lowest grade possible as well as the distribution of the grades, e.g. proportion of merit grades, mark range)
• ▶ Excel table containing the key data of the application (please hand in separately in Excel format)
• Statement of the KIT applicant (via separate e-mail) regarding the plans for funding the potential doctoral project

All documents should be in English. Please merge all documents into one PDF file in the order stated above (excluding the Excel table and the funding statement) and send the files to ▶ aspirant_doc ∂does-not-exist.khys kit edu.

Selection Criteria

• Compliance with application requirements
• Fulfillment of required formalities (a complete application, submitted in time, including all required documents, filled-out correctly and signed)
• Conclusiveness of motivation of the aspirant to come to KIT for the stay
• Plausibility of reasons of KIT applicant for inviting the aspirant
• Quality/conclusiveness of the activities planned for the stay
• Qualification of the aspirant
• Strategic relevance for KIT